The present invention relates to the filling of cracks in roadways using a slurry sealant box assembly and more particularly to the filling of roadway cracks that develop transverse to the direction of the roadway utilizing a transverse-mounted rut box assembly.
A variety of techniques have been developed to resurface, repair, or otherwise apply bituminous material to roadways. These techniques range from a laborer using a shovel to fill potholes to sophisticated machinery adapted to apply bituminous material to entire lanes of the roadway. A mechanical assembly that has been used to apply fluent bituminous paving material on half-lanes and whole lanes is commonly referred to as a "slurry sealant box". A slurry sealant box is an open-topped rectangular box sometimes containing a rotating auger disposed along its lengthwise extent and adapted to receive fluent bituminous paving material through the open top. A dispensing slot is formed at the bottom of the sealant box with side adjustable guides lifting the rear wall of the sealant box in order to control the thickness of the fluent material dispensed from the sealant box as it is pulled along the roadway by a truck or other vehicle. The direction of movement of the sealant box is transverse to its longitudinal extent. If the sealant box is nominally 4-6 feet in width, it is adapted to apply fluent bituminous paving material to one-half a lane, while 8 feet versions are adapted to cover an entire lane of the roadway. A suitable fluent bituminous paving material used in sealant boxes is Micro-Surfine.
Often, however, there is a need to fill a crack or other imperfection that develops transversely to the direction of traffic and the roadway. Such crack may occur by virtue of road work repair that has been undertaken, expansion and contraction stresses could cause a crack, adjacent slabs of concrete could move vertically relative to each other, or other cause may result in such transverse crack developing. Today, such transverse cracks are filled by hand, typically involving several laborers that shovel material about the crack in order to fill it. The use of laborers to repair such cracks creates expense and limits the number of cracks that can be filled in a normal workday. There is a need, then, to mechanize such transverse crack filling operation.